I’ve been recommending RawDigger for some time now as it is the best program for assessing how I’m executing on exposure. It’s also good for assessing raw image quality; see for example Sony 11+7 Bit File Format: Gapping.

RawDigger is the best tool available for anyone looking to hone their exposure (ETTR) techniques. Get 25% off through Dec 31.

David C writes:

I installed the trial and had an issue with the file chooser, sent something to their support and got an email back in 5 minutes. now I’m doing whatever they ask and reporting.

You can believe I’ll never see this kind of response from adobe (I bet not even *you* get it, and I’m sure not big enough).

DIGLLOYD: the RawDigger folks are very responsive—truly excellent.

FastRawViewer

FastRawViewer aims to provide the most efficient possible culling and selection of images for time pressed photographers. Anyone shooting sports or weddings or other high-volume jobs will surely want to take a look at FRV.

Note that FastRawViewer can be used as culling program prior to importing into Adobe Lightroom, potentially saving tremendous time over the LR Import/Wait-A-Long-Time/Cull alternative.

I’ve been working with Alex Tutubalin (CTO of LibRaw LLC) for some time on RawDigger, and he has gained my respect as a developer who responds quickly to good suggestions. Great stuff for those pressed for time with large batches of images.

Transfer of files to an external RAW converter directly from the FRV (up to 3 different external programs can be specified)

Note: FastRawViewer never modifies original RAW files. All adjustments are recorded as auxiliary (sidecar) files in a standard format (xmp and rpps) and picked by RAW converters from there. Extremely fast viewing of RAW images

Thanks to its internal RAW converter, FRV provides instant display of RAW images (in full color, but also as per channel R/G/B view), as well as the means for technical evaluation of the shot: histogram of RAW data, focus peaking, highlighting of areas of overexposure and underexposure based on RAW data, opening shadows to check the noise.

Again, all of those are based directly on the RAW data, and not on the internal or external JPEG, as it common in other viewers.

RAW browsing speed on an average laptop — 4-8 frames per second

Support of almost all RAW formats and cameras, including cameras with removed CFA (those are offered by maxmax.com, or home-made), with the only exception being Sigma/Foveon RAW files (in this case, embedded JPEGs are displayed)